Printing cylinder pressure system



n 7 1.. P. ALBAUGH PRINTING CYLINDER PRESSURE SYSTEM Filed Jan. 22, 1937Patented Jan. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,185,743 PRINTINGCYLINDER PRESSURE SYSTEM Lyman Perry Albaugh, Des Moines, Iowa,assignor; to Meredith Publishing Company, Des Memes, Iowa, a corporationof Iowa Applicationjanuary 22, 1937, Serial No. 121,814

2 Claims. (01. 60-52) the press which would damage the printing cyl-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of .,a I

printing press showing in section one of my hydraulic pressuremechanisms applied to one of the bearings of one of the printingcylinders and showing diagrammatically a pump for maintaining the fluidin the system under substantially constant pressure.

Figure 1a is an enlarged sectional view of the hydraulic pressuremechanism showing the parts in a different position as a result ofoperation of a safety break block in the mechanism.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 showing thecoaction of a bearing of .the printing cylinder with guideways of theprinting press frame; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1showing an end view of the break block in the hydraulic cylinder of mymechanism, and in section a projection interposed between the breakblock and the bearing of the-printing cylinder.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral ID toindicate-the side frame of a printing press. Journaled in the side frameID on a shaft I2 is one of the printing cylinders hi, this being the onewhich is provided with packing. The other printing cylinder is indicatedat [6, and this is the one provided with the printing plates, althoughit is immaterial from the standpoint of the operation of my invention towhich one of the printing cylinders my mechanism is applied.

The printing cylinder 16 has a shaft l8 which is journaled in a pair ofslidable bearings 20, one being provided for each end of the shaft, aswell known, although the drawing, being a side elevation in Figure 1,illustrates but one. of them. Each bearing 20 is slidable in a pair ofspaced guides 22 so that the cylinder 16 can be of the cylinders l4 andI6.

the operation of the press.

Heretofore it has been customary to provide a screw threaded means foreach bearing 20 for moving the cylinder it toward or away from I thecylinder 14. These cylinders are provided with bearers 24 located ateach end of the cylmoved toward or'away from the cylinder [4 ininder andhaving peripheries of substantially the same diameter as the packing andprinting plates 'I'heperipheries of 10 these bearers 24 are coincidentwith the pitch diameters of the gears (not shown) usually provided atthe ends of the cylinders l4 and It for rotating them in synchronismrDuring ihe operation of the printing press, 16 after the plates'andpacking have been adjusted to the diameter of the bearer, it isnecessary, in order to secure the proper printing impressions on thepaper fed through the press, that thebearings 20 be adjusted so that theperipheries go of the bearers are in contact and under a substantialpressure in addition to mere contact. Otherwise proper printingimpressions cannot be secured.

Obviously with a screw threaded mechanism as 35 heretofore used for thispurpose, the operator of the press cannot accurately adjust the bearings20, as first the bearers must be brought into contact and then theproper amount of additional pressure applied. It has been customary tobring the bearers into contact by sighting between them and adjustingthe bearings 20 until no light can be'seen between the bearers and thenturn the adjusting screws a predetermined portion of a revolution 35thereafter, or apply a certain pressure to the adjusting hand wheel forthe screw, or use some other haphazard method. It is almost impossibleto secure bearers which are of absolute uniformity in radius. throughouttheir circumfer- 4o ence. Accordingly as the cylinders l6 and I 4rotate, some portions of the bearers might contact and others would not.If the pressure is adjusted a certain degree beyond .contact at oneparts become worn, especially if they wear more at one point than atanother, then extreme difficulty is experienced in adjusting the partsto the proper position for uniform printing.

vAlso when adjusting the printing cylinders, 55

the press can be operated at slow speed to test out whether or not it isprinting properly, but

when it is shifted to high speed for the printing process, it has beenfound that the pressure decreases at the higher speeds and-therefore,what was a good result at low speed is not satisfactory at the workingspeed of the press. It is then necessary to shut. down the press againand adsure on the printing cylinder regardless of the the condition ofthe bearings or bearers, and one which will compensate for anyunevenness in the working parts of the press, as well as one which canbe adjusted for different pressures while the press is in operation. Mysystem has further advantages and flexibility of control, as will appearas the description thereof proceeds.

I remove the screw type of actuating mechanism for the bearings 26 andin place thereof substitute a hydraulic cylinder 26. This cylinder maybe secured in position by cap screws 28, and has in it a piston 36. Thepiston 30 is backed by a cup leather 32 or other suitable packing may beprovided. In front of the piston 36 I provide a break block B comprisingan annular ring 34 and a diaphragm 36. Interposed between the diaphragm36 and the bearing 26 is a projection 38 of less diameter than the ringand contacting with the diaphragm within the ring. The projection 38 maybe formed on the bearing as illustrated, or may be a separate partinterposed between the bearing and the diaphragm, or be formed on thediaphragm.

One of the hydraulic cylinders 26 is provided for each bearing 20 of thepress, some of which are provided with a plurality of pairs of printingcylinders although only one pair is shown on the drawing.

Each of the cylinders 26 is connected by piping 42 with three-way valves44. (The connection to the cylinder on the far side in the drawing isindicated at 42'.) The three-way valve is connected with a pressure line46 and with a return line 48, which lines may extend as .at 46a and 48aon to the other pairs of cylinders (not shown).

A pump P is provided, the outlet of which is connected with the pressureline 46, and the intake 52 of which is connected with the return line48, with an oil reservoir 54 interposed between the two. A pressurevalve V--PR is illustrated and connected between the pressure and returnlines 46 and 46. Accordingly, with the valve 44 in the full lineposition shown at 44a, oil will be pumped from the reservoir 54 to eachof the cylinders 26 to maintain a substantially constant pressuretherein, any excess of predetermined pressure being relieved through thepressure valve VPR so that a substantially constant pressure ismaintained in the line 46 and consequently on the pistons 30.

I Any time it is desirable to shut down the press, a valve V is opened,whereupon the oil being pumped into the line 46 returns through thereturn line 46 instead of maintaining pressure on the pistons 30. Thepistons will thereupon return to the bottoms of the cylinders 26 byreturn springs 66. At all times the pressure in the pressure line 46 isindicated by a gauge 58, and the pressure may be adjusted by adjustingthe valve V--PR in the ordinary manner, since this is the usualtype ofpressure relief ;or bypass valve.

I have found that preferably the piping 46 should extend above any ofthe cylinders 26 so as to obviate the possibility oi air pocketsdeveloping in the system.

Any time it is desirable to relieve the pressure from oneprinting-cylinder, but retain it on the others, the three-way valve 44for that particular cylinder can be adjusted to the dotted position 44b,thus connecting the piping 42 and 42' with the return line 48 to relievethe fluid pressure from the hydraulic cylinders of that particularprinting cylinder. Whenever the valve 44 is swung again to the full lineposition, however, the pressure will be put back on the printingcylinder and will be the same pressure as before without the necessityof any further adjustments other than manually swinging the valve 44from one position to another.

From the foregoing description it is obvious that,-regardless of thecondition of the bearings 20 or bearers 24, the same pressure ismaintained on the bearers throughout all degrees of rotation of theprinting cylinders. Any low places in the bearers are taken care ofinstantly by movement of the bearings 20, with the same pressure beingmaintained behind them whether the low places are minute or ofsubstantial depth. Thus unevenness of the parts is compensated for in amanner impossible with a screw adjusted bearing, and without anyexcessive pressure which would cause heating of the bearings. Also eachend of the printing cylinder is under exactly the same pressure at alltimes.

Obviously the spending of time, as heretofore required, for adjustmentpurposes is entirely eliminated, as whenever the operator wishes toplace the cylinders under pressure, it is merely necessary to have thepump P operating and close the valve V. The pressure will remain thesame on all cylinders of the press regardless of the number of runs orthe wear on parts of the press. Whenever it is desirable to change thepressure, the valve V--PR can be adjusted for this purpose, which is anextremely simple operationas compared to the former adjustmentsnecessary. This saving of time is a substantial item in the printingbusiness.

My system also prevents cylinder damage, as ordinarily excessivepressure caused by thin foreign objects passing through the press can betaken care of by the movement backwardly of the bearings 20, whereasheretofore these bearings were fixed by their screw adjustments so thatsuch movement was not possible. After such an object passes through thepress, the cylinders 30 again position the bearings 26 in the properposition for their predetermined working pressure. If any large objectgoes through which would require excessive movement of the bearing 26 soquickly that the-piston 30 could not force the oil back through thepiping 42 and 42' quickly enough to prevent the object from damaging theprinting cylinder, then the diaphragm 36 breaks through (illustrated inFigure in after breaking), thus acting as a safety device to preventcylinder damage.

It damage of the diaphragm occurs, the piston would be moved forwardlyby the oilpres-y sure, but is limited by engagement of the break block Bwith the guides 22, while the projection- 38 is of suificient length tolet the bearing 20 contact with the ring 34 of thebreak block only afterthe cylinder l6 has been moved a substan:

tial space from the cylinder ll. Thereafter, of

course, a new break block must be inserted, the breakage of this blockbeing in response to an abnormal condition and, therefore, an exception"rather than a rule during the operation of .the press. Ordinarily thepiston 30 will move back. enough to permit objects to pass through thepress without breakage, but the break block takes care of extremeconditions.

The bearers 24 are always in contact with the on 'a conventional pressfor measuring the pres-- sure applied to the printing cylinders.Heretofore laboratory tests have been made to indicate the desiredpressure, but never hasthere been any way in which this pressure couldbe measured or indicated, at all times during the operation of thepress.

With my system it is possible to use the required pressure without anypossibility of there 4 ever being, during the operation of the press, anexcessive pressure which would cause the bearings to overheat.

other portions thereof, as experienced with screw adjusted. types 01.bearings.

Using hydraulic pressure also compensates for the cylinder I4, asregardless of any eccentric operation of either the cylinder M or IS,the

same pressure is'maintained'throughout their operation.

With ,my system it is necessary to use only the power required tooperate the cylinder withthe desired pressure, whereas with the oldsystem, because of the lack of means for determining any sprung or worncondition of the shaft I! of I the proper pressure, there is apossibility of putting on too much pressureand thus require the use ofadditional power torun the press. Ob-

viously my system therefore reduces strain on the press and reduces theconsumption of power. Some changes may be made in the construction outdeparting from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is myintention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or useof mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within theirscope.

I claim as my invention:

and arrangement of the parts of my device with- 1. In a pressure systemfor a printing cylinder,

a.hydraulic cylinder for a bearing of the printing cylinder, a piston insaid hydraulic cylinder and engaging the printing cylinder bearing tomove the printing cylinder toward printing position, a hydraulic pipesystem connected with said hydraulic cylinder, 2, break block interposedbetween said piston and said bearing and means .for retaining fluid insaid pipe system and hyinder and engaging the printing cylinder bear- InFigure 1a the piston 30 and the break block ing to move the printingcylinder toward printing position, a hydraulicpipe' system connectedwith said hydraulic cylinder, a break block interposed betweensaidpiston and said bearing and comprising an annular ring, a diaphragmspanning said ring and a projection of-1ess diameterthan the ring andinterposed between the diaphragm and the bearing within the ring 'LYMANPERRY ALBAUGH.

